The Agence Française de Lutte contre le Dopage (AFLD) and the Cycling Anti-Doping Foundation (CADF), the independent body mandated by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) to define and carry out the fight against doping in cycling, confirmed today that they will continue their close collaboration on anti-doping controls during the 2017 Tour De France, which begins on Saturday 1st July in Düsseldorf, Germany.

The agreement covering the Tour de France, is part of the cooperation agreement between the UCI on the one hand, represented by the CADF, and the AFLD on the other, which aims to ensure efficient anti-doping controls at all the major cycling competitions in France.

Regarding anti-doping controls for the Tour de France 2017, a comprehensive approach will prevail to maximise the efficiency of the control system, including targeted controls at the start of the competition – in particular through data exchange regarding the localisation of the riders – as well as the sharing of information concerning the Athlete Biological Passport (ABP), the individual electronic file for each rider that contains the results of all the anti-doping tests carried out as part of this programme over a certain period.

Several control measures already in place in recent editions will be renewed, such as:

The AFLD has again carried out controls this year on a number of cyclists who will most likely participate in the “Grande Boucle”;

Shortly before the start of the race, blood checks have been carried out on all participants;

During the stages in France, the decision regarding which cyclists to test will be jointly made by the CADF and the AFLD, on the basis of shared information, in order to have a well-targeted approach towards the riders;

Based on intelligence gathering, some samples will be kept, up to 10 years, in order to allow subsequent analyses with the benefit of technical progress concerning detection methods.

The cooperation agreement between the CADF, AFLD, and the Central office for combatting damage to the environment and public (OCLAESP) has also been renewed. The agreement will allow the collection of supplementary information that will improve the quality of testing throughout the race.

Finally, the National Anti-Doping Agency of Germany (NADA), the UCI and the CADF will jointly launch an awareness campaign for clean sport at the start of the Tour, an initiative called «Give everything, take nothing».

Francesca Rossi, Director of CADF, declared: “Our overall testing strategy in 2017 is more than ever based on information gathered through intelligence. The Tour de France does not represent an exception and in this specific event, the CADF can count on the support of the AFLD for information exchange to design the day-to-day testing plan. During the stages in Germany, we will also count on the support of our colleagues from the German Anti-Doping Organisation (NADA).”

Bruno Genevois, AFLD President, said: “The AFLD welcomes the renewed cooperation with the CADF in the framework of the Tour de France, which guarantees the effectiveness of the testing programme to be implemented during the race”.

Brian Cookson, UCI President, added: “In the past four years, UCI have signed a record number of sharing agreements with National Anti-Doping Organisations such as those of France, Germany, the USA, Switzerland, Denmark, South Africa and the UK among others. This is in line with the recommendation of the World Anti-Doping Agency and allows shifting cycling’s anti-doping strategy from a quantitative to a qualitative approach made of cooperation and data sharing with all stakeholders. We are delighted to be working with the AFLD and NADA on this 2017 Tour de France and beyond.”

Dr. Andrea Gotzmann, CEO of NADA, concluded: “We are more than pleased to cooperate with UCI and CADF during the Tour the France 2017. The cooperation is an important component to raise awareness and serves the protection of all athletes".